Thousands of families have fled ongoing fighting in Sudan and are now sheltering in camps in Maban County, in South Sudan's Upper Nile state. The ICRC has distributed aid to 80,000 refugees and is working to improve access to clean water.

This document provides an overview of developments in the Mediterranean Basin and other regions of interest from 25 September — 01 October, with hyperlinks to source material highlighted and under-lined in the text. For more information on the topics below or other issues pertaining to the region, please contact the members of the Med Basin Team, or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org.

ADDIS ABABA - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Ethiopia has expressed its gratitude to the Ethiopian authorities in facilitating airdrops of badly needed food to refugee camps in South Sudan.

More than 1,000 metric tons of grain was airdropped in South Sudan’s Maban County from planes taking off from Gambella between mid-August and September 17. This allowed WFP to continue vital food distributions to the refugees who have fled fighting in Sudan’s Blue Nile State and sought refuge in South Sudan.

The Government of Japan and UNESCO concluded an agreement under which USD 4.8 million will be allocated by Japan to UNESCO to support its post conflict and post disaster response in education in South Sudan, Liberia, Egypt and Libya, and Iraq and in tackling drought and famine in the Horn of Africa.

This document provides an overview of developments in the Mediterranean Basin and other regions of interest from 28 August — 10 September, with hyperlinks to source material highlighted and underlined in the text. For more information on the topics below or other issues pertaining to the region, please contact the members of the Med Basin Team, or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org.

Strengthened programme and management capacities of the South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC) in the process of recognition contributes to save lives and increase the resilience of vulnerable communities to recover from disaster and crisis.

1) Heavy rains have resulted in fatalities and massive destruction in South Darfur, the northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, and Jonglei states of South Sudan. Flooding potential remains as above-average rains are forecast during the next week.

2) Since July, heavy rains causing flooding and inundation along the Niger and Benue Rivers have led to the displacement of thousands of people and many fatalities in eastern Nigeria. Enhanced rainfall forecast could exacerbate the ground conditions.

1) Heavy rains have resulted in fatalities and massive destruction in South Darfur, the northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, and Jonglei states of South Sudan. Flooding potential remains as heavy rains are forecast during the next week.

2) Heavy downpours left one dead in the Gambia during the past week. Heavy rains have persisted, exacerbating Cholera outbreak across Sierra Leone and Guinea. Concerns for flooding and Cholera spreading remain as heavy rains are again forecasted.

1) Heavy rains have resulted in fatalities and massive destruction in South Darfur and the northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, and Jonglei states of South Sudan during the past week. Flooding potential remains as heavy rains are forecast during the next week.

2) Heavy downpours killed four people in Dakar and central Senegal during the past week. Heavy rains persisted, potentially exacerbating Cholera outbreak across Sierra Leone and Guinea. Concerns for flooding and Cholera spreading remain as heavy rains are again forecasted.

Crisis levels of food insecurity to persist through December in border areas

Key messages

Crisis levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3) will persist until September and thereafter will be confined mainly to the northern parts of Unity, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, and Upper Nile states and parts of Jonglei State through December. Other parts of the country will face Stressed or Minimal (IPC Phase 1) food insecurity following harvests that begin in October.

Jacob fled his home in South Sudan as a child and ended up in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. In the camp he remembers receiving WFP food aid and realised its importance. He is now living in Canada, where he has established a charity through which he hopes to build schools in his native land.

TORONTO -- A member of the Dinka tribe, Jacob was born in Duk Padiet, a village near the Nile in South Sudan. He was seven years old when insurgents raided his village, burning everything in sight and slaughtering people. Among those killed were several members of Jacob’s family.

The European Commission is increasing its support for the victims of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Sudan and South Sudan. The Commission aims to help hundreds of thousands of refugees in South Sudan who have fled the conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile States, and the 37,000 refugees, mainly from Blue Nile, in Ethiopia.

To meet their growing needs, the Commission is boosting by € 40 million its humanitarian aid for Sudan and South Sudan. This brings to € 127 million the Commission's relief aid in the two countries for this year.

Following the withdrawal of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the majority of the Sudanese Police Service from Abyei Area in late May and early June, humanitarian agencies continue to coordinate response plans to meet the needs of returnees north of the River Kiir.

This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today’s Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva.

GENEVA, 10 July 2012
BRIEFER: Adrian Edwards, UNHCR Spokesman

Conditions in South Sudan’s refugee camps have continued to worsen over the past few days under the strain of continuing large refugee inflows and flooding from torrential rains. The health situation has at this point become UNHCR’s priority concern, and we are watching closely for possible outbreaks of disease.

6 July 2012 - The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan should urgently meet and enter into dialogue in resolving ongoing disputes, the Elders said today in Juba.

“Dialogue is the only way to resolve differences and to build two viable states,” said Elders Chair Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. “Military force is a dead end, promising nothing but suffering and misery.”

Accompanying Archbishop Tutu were Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, and former Irish President Mary Robinson.